It's been
shrouded in mystery for years, locked away inside one of the historical homes
at Millard's Crossing in Nacogdoches.

But now
researchers at Stephen F. Austin University are trying to decipher the mystery.
It's a trunk labeled TJR, and it could have belonged to famous politician
Thomas J. Rusk nearly 160 years ago.

Dr. Perky
Beisel, an associate professor of public history at SFA, says for years she has
overlooked the mysterious trunk.

"We don't
have good records for a lot of the stuff out there that have been given to us
since then. We don't know where it came from so the trunk and some other things
have some mystery attached to them," Beisel said.

Beisel says
the trunk is reputed to have belonged to Rusk, but there hasn't been much
inquiry into its manufacture until now.

"If we could
go back in time to 1840 and ask somebody in New York who Thomas J. Rusk is they
would know who he was. He was a nationally recognized politician and that's why
people knew where Nacogdoches was. The opportunity to have something that is of
his that went on his travels to Washington and New York and New Orleans—everywhere
that he traveled. Maybe it was with him during the revolution—that's pretty
special," Beisel said.

Rusk was one
of the many early immigrants into Texas. He was an early settler, and founder
of the Republic of Texas, Beisel said. He served in the military and worked
with Sam Houston and was later elected to the U.S. Congress.

Beisel and
Dr. Robert Z. Seldon Jr. have been working on researching more into the trunk's
history and successfully completed a three-dimensional scan of the trunk last
week.

"I love
historic preservation and artifacts and that's what this is. Not many towns
have an entire village like Millard's Crossing. She was a pioneer in
preservation in Texas with Ladybird Johnson and they were contemporaries and
worked together. I don't see why we shouldn't all be out here supporting it and
you know, I think it's really great, and if we can preserve artifacts like this
and do the 3D, we can give teachers packets for their classrooms that students
can use," Beisel said.

Millard's
Crossing was created by the late Lera Millard Thomas, the wife of congressman
Albert Thomas. She was also the first woman elected to Congress from the State
of Texas. It's a historical village full of Thomas' vision and artifacts she collected throughout her lifetime.

"It's fun. I
mean, this is why we get into history and why we do it. Me, in particular, with
artifacts to think that you're holding something, you're looking at it—that somebody
in the past they packed clothes to go off to the Texas Capitol or to go to
Washington and to think that this is something they knew," Beisel said. "So
many things have changed. Regardless, even if it isn't his, it's definitely a
historic trunk so somebody had a lot of memories with this thing and that's
what's really neat—to be able to touch the past."

Beisel says the
trunk is nailed shut for its preservation, but it was opened 15 years ago.
Nothing was inside it. However, Beisel says it is neat to research it and says
if it does turn out to have belonged to Rusk, it would date back to the
1830-1850 time period.

"I think
there's a fair chance before the Civil War, which would put it as old as it has
to be in order to be his. But so far from the preliminary research, it fits
very well in that early 19th century," Beisel said.

Right now, Beisel
says she will be allowing her students to write grants for the trunk's
preservation and conservation, starting on Wednesday. Beisel says she does the
research for free and Millard's Crossing does need funding to ensure the
artifact remains intact.

"My job is a
public historian for SFA. My graduate students are paying for the pleasure because
they are in class and this is an assignment and that's what we teach them—how to
do work that the public needs. Millard's Crossing can't afford, we can't afford
to hire a $200 an hour consultant," Biesel said.

But even if
the trunk isn't Rusk's, Biesel says it will stay put at Millard's Crossing.

"I think it
would be really great and I would hope the community would support an artifact
that has national significant. It's just one more reason for people to come to
Millard's Crossing," Biesel said.

In the wake of an incident in which the driver of a Ford Explorer allegedly almost backed into a Lufkin PD patrol unit while he was fleeing a traffic stop Monday afternoon, the police department will be seeking a warrant for his arrest.

In the wake of an incident in which the driver of a Ford Explorer allegedly almost backed into a Lufkin PD patrol unit while he was fleeing a traffic stop Monday afternoon, the police department will be seeking a warrant for his arrest.